The Effects of Football Training on Improving Aerobic Skills, Technique, and Anthropometry in Goalkeepers

Abstract

Objectives. The study aimed to assess the impact of football training, particularly for goalkeepers, on children’s motor skills and aerobic capacity over a 10-month period. Materials and methods. This experimental study focused on evaluating the specific skills of goalkeepers and the aerobic capacities of children who took on the role of goalkeeper after undergoing training. The study involved totally 20 individuals aged 10-14 who played as goalkeepers and who were part of the entire population trained at the Real Madrid Foundation UNY Football School. The changes in the goalkeeper’s aerobic capacity, reaction speed, and diving, as well as anthropometric measurements were found in the study. The instruments used for this research included a multi-stage fitness test, a test of the goalkeeper’s reaction and diving skills, as well as height and weight measurements. The data analysis technique used was the t-test to determine differences in variables between the pretest and post-test, with a significance level of less than 0.05 (p < 0.05). Results. The results revealed significant improvements in aerobic endurance (p = 0.004), reaction ability (p = 0.007), and goalkeeper diving (p = 0.002) after 10 months of football training. However, there were no significant changes in height, weight, and BMI, as the p value was greater than 0.05. Conclusions. These findings have important implications for evaluating goalkeeper training programs and provide a basis for recommending more effective ones.